nbn is the wholesale-only broadband company. nbn sells its services to retail phone and internet service providers. It must be open, transparent and fair in this, under the supervision of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

The legislation set up the regulatory framework for nbn and sets out the process for the eventual sale.

Requirements for the sale of nbn

nbn can’t be sold until:

the Minister for Communications declares that the nbn is built and fully operational

the Productivity Commission has an inquiry into regulatory, budgetary, consumer and competition matters relating to the nbn

a Parliamentary Joint Committee considers the findings of that report

the Minister for Finance makes a disallowable declaration that conditions are suitable to sell nbn

Parliament doesn’t disallow that declaration.

Open and fair access

nbn sells wholesale access to its network to retail service providers. The way it does this is subject to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010:

nbn can’t discriminate against its potential customers if they are creditworthy and they comply with nbn's terms and conditions.

The ACCC has oversight of all of nbn's services

nbn must publish all the services it offers; any differences must be given to the ACCC to publish on its website

Freedom of information

Rules for other providers

Superfast fixed line broadband networks must meet a new carrier licence condition if their service targets residential customers. The declaration and explanatory statement are available on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.

Any company offering superfast fixed-line local access networks built, upgraded or extended after 1 January 2011 must be a wholesale provider: it can’t sell it’s services directly to the public, and, like nbn, it must comply with competition laws: